EP0609997A2 - Method of reducing drive energy in a high speed thermal ink jet printer - Google Patents
Method of reducing drive energy in a high speed thermal ink jet printer Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0609997A2 EP0609997A2 EP94300396A EP94300396A EP0609997A2 EP 0609997 A2 EP0609997 A2 EP 0609997A2 EP 94300396 A EP94300396 A EP 94300396A EP 94300396 A EP94300396 A EP 94300396A EP 0609997 A2 EP0609997 A2 EP 0609997A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- pulse
- pulses
- ink jet
- jet printer
- thermal ink
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04568—Control according to number of actuators used simultaneously
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/0458—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads based on heating elements forming bubbles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04588—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits using a specific waveform
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04593—Dot-size modulation by changing the size of the drop
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04595—Dot-size modulation by changing the number of drops per dot
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
- B41J2/2121—Ink jet for multi-colour printing characterised by dot size, e.g. combinations of printed dots of different diameter
- B41J2/2128—Ink jet for multi-colour printing characterised by dot size, e.g. combinations of printed dots of different diameter by means of energy modulation
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
- B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
- B41J2202/06—Heads merging droplets coming from the same nozzle
Definitions
- the subject invention relates generally to thermal ink jet printers, and is directed more particularly to a technique for reducing drive energy in thermal ink jet printheads while maintaining consistently high print quality.
- An ink jet printer forms a printed image by printing a pattern of individual dots at particular locations of an array defined for the printing medium.
- the locations are conveniently visualized as being small dots in a rectilinear array.
- the locations are sometimes "dot locations", “dot positions”, or “pixels”.
- the printing operation can be viewed as the filling of a pattern of dot locations with dots of ink.
- Ink jet printers print dots by ejecting very small drops of ink onto the print medium, and typically include a movable carriage that supports one or more printheads each having ink ejecting nozzles.
- the carriage traverses over the surface of the print medium, and the nozzles are controlled to eject drops of ink at appropriate times pursuant to command of a microcomputer or other controller, wherein the timing of the application of the ink drops is intended to correspond to the pattern of pixels of the image being printed.
- Thermal ink jet printheads commonly comprise an array of precision formed nozzles, each of which is in communication with an associated ink containing chamber that receives ink from a reservoir.
- Each chamber includes a thermal resistor which is located opposite the nozzle so that ink can collect between the thermal resistor and the nozzle.
- the thermal resistor is selectively heated by voltage pulses to drive ink drops through the associated nozzle opening in the orifice plate. Pursuant to each pulse, the thermal resistor is rapidly heated, which causes the ink directly adjacent the thermal resistor to vaporize and form a bubble. As the vapor bubble grows, momentum is transferred to the ink to be propelled through the nozzle and onto the print media.
- thermal ink jet printheads with drop forming pulse groups A consideration with the operation of thermal ink jet printheads with drop forming pulse groups is increased printhead operating temperatures due to multiple firings for each pixel. This consideration becomes more notable with small drop volume thermal ink jet devices which require relatively higher input energy per unit flow of ink, and thus develop higher operating temperatures as a result of the increase in average power.
- High operating temperatures are known to cause degradation in print quality due to induced variability in printhead performance parameters such as drop volume, spray, and trajectory. Moreover, when the operating temperature of a thermal ink jet printhead exceeds a critical temperature, it becomes inoperative. Also, the operating lifetime of a thermal ink jet printhead can be reduced as a result of excessive heat build up.
- a common technique for reducing heat build up is to operate at lower resistor firing frequencies, which delivers lower average power to the printhead.
- reducing the maximum resistor firing frequency also reduces printing speed and throughput.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the thermal ink jet components for implementing the invention.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a portion of a printhead with which the disclosed invention can be implemented.
- FIG. 3 is a pulse timing diagram illustrating the reduction of drive energy in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 4 is a pulse timing diagram illustrating the reduction of drive energy in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 5 is a pulse timing diagram illustrating the reduction of drive energy in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of the circuitry of a simplified printhead which is helpful in understanding the disclosed invention.
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components for driving the printhead circuit of FIG. 6 in accordance with the invention.
- FIG. 8 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the printhead circuit of FIG. 6 in accordance with the invention.
- a controller 11 receives print data input and processes the print data to provide print control information to a printhead driver 13.
- the printhead driver circuitry 13 receives power from a power supply 15 and applies driving or energizing pulses to ink drop firing resistors of a thermal ink jet printhead 15 which emit ink drops pursuant to the driving pulses.
- the thermal ink jet printhead 15 is constructed in accordance with conventional printhead designs, and FIG. 2 shows by way of illustrative example a schematic partial perspective of an implementation of the printhead 15.
- the printhead of FIG. 2 includes a substrate member 12 upon which a polymer barrier layer 14 is disposed and configured in the geometry shown.
- the substrate 12 will typically be constructed of either glass or silicon or some other suitable insulating or semiconductor material which has been surface-oxidized and upon which a plurality of ink firing resistors 26 are photolithographically defined, for example in a layer of resistive material such as tantalum-aluminum.
- ink firing resistors 26 are electrically connected by conductive trace patterns (not shown) which are used for supplying drive current pulses to these ink firing resistors during a thermal ink jet printing operation.
- conductive trace patterns not shown
- surface passivation and protection insulating layers not shown between the overlying polymer barrier layer 14 and the underlying ink firing resistors 26 and conductive trace patterns. Examples of thermal ink jet printhead construction are shown in the Hewlett Packard Journal , Volume 39, No. 4, August 1988, incorporated herein by reference, and also in the Hewlett Packard Journal , Volume 36, No. 5, May 1985, also incorporated herein by reference.
- the polymer barrier layer 14 can be formed from a polymeric material using known photolithographic masking and etching processes to define firing chambers 18 which overlie respective heater resistors 26.
- the ends of an opening in the firing chambers 18 are connected to the sides of an ink feed channel 28 which extends as shown to receive ink at the slanted or angled lead-in end sections 30 that define an ink entry port of the polymer barrier layer 14.
- the firing chamber 18 is integrally joined to the rectangularly shaped ink feed channel 28 and associated ink flow entry port 30 which are operative to supply ink to the firing chamber 18 during drop ejection of ink from the thermal ink jet printhead.
- An orifice plate 32 of conventional construction and fabricated typically of gold plated nickel is disposed as shown on the upper surface of the polymer barrier layer 14, and the orifice plate 32 has a convergently contoured orifice opening 34 therein which is typically aligned with the center of the ink firing resistor 26.
- the orifice opening 34 may be slightly offset with respect to the center of the ink firing resistor in order to control the directionality of the ejected ink drops in a desired manner.
- the controller 11 of the thermal ink jet printer of FIG. 1 comprises, for example, a microprocessor architecture in accordance with known controller structures, and provides pulse data representative of the firing pulses for driving the individual ink drop firing resistors of the printhead 17.
- the controller provides for each ink drop firing resistor pulse data representative of the number of pulses that the resistor is to be fired in each firing cycle, wherein a firing cycle is defined as a time interval during which each ink firing resistor and the printhead driver drives the ink firing resistors in accordance with the resistor pulse data such that the resistors are fired with the appropriate energizing pulses.
- each ink firing resistor is controlled to produce ink drops of varying volume (greater ink volume for darker print).
- each dot printing drop produced by the printhead is formed pursuant to a pulse group applied to an ink firing resistor wherein a pulse group includes one or more pulses each respectively causing the emission of corresponding one or more droplets.
- the pulses in a pulse group are sufficiently close together so that the ink droplets from the pulses within a pulse group merge together in flight to form the single ink drop prior to reaching the print medium.
- the time interval between pulse groups applied to any given ink firing resistor is sufficiently large to avoid merging of the drops from different pulse groups.
- each dot printing ink drop is formed pursuant application of a sequence of 1 to MAX pulses of a group pulse pattern that includes MAX pulses and wherein the energy of the second and subsequent pulses is less than the energy of the first pulse in the group pulse pattern.
- the time interval between the leading edges of the pulses in a pulse group pattern remains constant.
- the time interval between the leading edges of adjacent pulses in a pulse group is decreased starting with the second pulse (i.e., the pulse timing is advanced), and the energy of the second and subsequent pulses is constant and less than the energy of the first pulse.
- the time interval between the leading edges of adjacent pulses in a pulse group is decreased starting with the second pulse (i.e., the pulse timing is advanced), and the energy of the second and subsequent pulses is reduced relative to the energy of the first pulse such that the energy of the second pulse is less than the energy of the first pulse, the energy of the third pulse is less than the energy of the second pulse.
- the energy of ink firing pulses can be controlled, for example, by width or amplitude.
- FIG. 3 schematically illustrated therein is a group pulse pattern in accordance with a pulse width reduction embodiment of the invention wherein the pulse width of the second and successive pulses is constant and reduced relative to the width of the first pulse, and wherein the intervals between all pulses in the pattern are the same.
- the maximum number of pulses MAX being three
- a dot printing drop would be formed pursuant to a pulse group comprised of the first pulse, the first and second pulses, or all three pulses, wherein the number of pulses in a particular pulse group would depend upon the desired printed dot density.
- the first pulse of the group pulse pattern has a width of 3.8 microseconds, while the second and third pulses each has a width of 2.3 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 39% relative to the first pulse.
- the time interval between the start of adjacent pulses is shown as 25 microseconds.
- a pulse group pattern having a greater maximum number of pulses MAX can be utilized to obtain a greater number of print shades, wherein the second and subsequent pulses would be of the same pulse width, for example.
- FIG. 4 schematically illustrated therein by way of illustrative example is a pulse group pattern in accordance with a pulse width reduction and timing advance embodiment of the invention wherein the second and subsequent pulses have the same reduced width.
- a pulse group pattern having a maximum number of pulses MAX that is equal to three a dot printing drop would be formed pursuant to a pulse group comprised of the first pulse, the first and second pulses, or all three pulses, wherein the number of pulses in a particular pulse group would depend upon the desired printed dot density.
- the first pulse has a width of 3.8 microseconds
- the second and third pulses each has a pulse width of 2.3 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 39% relative to the first pulse.
- the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses is 25 microseconds, and the interval between the leading edge of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is 15 microseconds.
- a pulse group pattern having a greater maximum pulse count can be utilized to obtain a greater number of print shades, wherein the second and subsequent pulses would be of the same pulse width that is reduced relative to the first pulse and wherein the intervals between the leading edges of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is constant and less than the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses.
- FIG. 5 schematically illustrated therein by way of illustrative example is a pulse group pattern in accordance with a pulse width reduction and timing advance embodiment of the invention wherein the width of the second pulse is reduced relative to the width of the first pulse, and the widths of the third and subsequent pulses are reduced relative to the width of the second pulse.
- a pulse group pattern having a maximum number of pulses MAX that is equal to four a dot printing drop would be formed pursuant to a pulse group comprised of the first pulse, the first and second pulses, the first through third pulses, or all four pulses, wherein the number of pulses in a particular pulse group would depend upon the desired printed dot density.
- the first pulse has a width of 3.8 microseconds
- the second pulse has a pulse width of 2.3 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 39% relative to the first pulse.
- the third and fourth pulses each has a width of 1.9 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 50% relative to the first pulse.
- the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses is 25 microseconds, and the interval between the leading of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is 15 microseconds.
- a pulse group pattern having a greater maximum pulse count can be utilized to obtain a greater number of print shades, wherein the third and subsequent pulses would be of the same pulse width that is reduced relative to the first and second pulses and wherein the intervals between the leading edges of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is constant and less than the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses.
- the interval between the end of one pulse group and the start of the next pulse group should be at least 45 microseconds to avoid in flight merging of the respective drops from the groups. Further, the pulse repetition interval within a group can be in the range of 15 to 45 microseconds.
- FIG. 6 is a simplified schematic circuit of a printhead having eight ink firing resistors R1 through R8 arranged in an array of 4 rows and 2 columns, and are driven by respective power FETs S1 through S8.
- the power FETs are controlled by address lines A1 through A4 and primitive select lines P1 and P2.
- the gates of the FETs in each row are commonly connected to an address line for that row; and resistors in each column are column are connected between the drains of respective FETs and a primitive select line for that column.
- the resistor when the address line of an ink firing resistor is at a logical high level, the resistor can be energized pursuant to the voltage on its primitive select line.
- the primitive select lines provide pulses for driving the ink firing resistors in accordance with the invention.
- FIG. 7 illustrates in simplified form, by way of illustrative example, a multiplexer 111, a look-up table 113, and an address driver 115 that would be implemented in the printhead driver 13 of FIG. 1 for driving the printhead of FIG. 4 in a multiplexed manner.
- the address driver 115 provides the address signals AS1 through AS2 on the address lines Al through A4, wherein each address signal comprises a sequence of pulses that are the same in number as the number of pulses in the group pulse pattern utilized, and timed in accordance with the timing of the group pulse pattern being utilized, whereby the intervals between the leading edges of the pulses of an address signal is the same as the intervals between the leading edges of the pulses in the particular group pulse pattern being utilized.
- a firing cycle is an interval during which each of the ink firing resistors of the printhead circuit of FIG. 6 is enabled pursuant to the address lines to produce a dot printing drop. Of course, whether an ink firing resistor fires a drop depends on the print data.
- the multiplexer 111 receives respective pulse data DR1 through DR8 for each resistor on eight input lines, and provides two primitive select signals PS1 and PS2 on the primitive select lines P1 and P2.
- a group pulse pattern having four greyscale levels including white i.e., a group pulse pattern having three pulses
- the data for each resistor two bits for each firing cycle.
- the resistor data for each firing cycle is translated into pulse waveforms via the look-up table and amplified to provide the primitive select signals PS1 and PS2 which includes pulses of appropriate power for energizing the ink firing resistors that receive the pulses.
- each primitive select signal contains the pulses for all of the resistors in the column associated with the particular primitive select signal, and the pulses for each resistor are timed to coincide with the address signal pulses for that resistor. Since the address signals AS1 through AS4 are staggered, the primitive select pulses for the resistors in each column will be interleaved such that the resistors in each column will be energized in an interleaved manner wherein only one resistor in each column is being fired at any point in time during a firing cycle. In other words, resistors in a column cannot be concurrently energized. However, different resistors in different columns can be energized at the same time since each address signal controls a resistor in each column. FIG.
- PS1 contains the single pulses for the resistors R1 and R7, while PS2 contains the three pulses for the resistor R8.
- the foregoing multiplexed scheme generally provides address signals that define for each row of resistors the times when such resistors can be energized, and the power primitive select signals provide the appropriate power pulses in accordance with the number of pulses of the group pulse pattern specified for each of the resistors.
- the address signals are staggered such that in each column only one resistor is energized at any given time, and the pulses in each of the primitive select signals are interleaved so that the pulses for each resistor in each column are coincident with the address pulses for such resistor.
- timing parameters including pulse energy reduction and timing advance will depend on the characteristics of the particular thermal ink jet printer. For example, the amount of pulse energy reduction will vary depending upon pulse timing, with the potential for pulse energy reduction increasing as the interval between pulses in a group pattern decreases, and pulse timing advance is chosen to optimize drop stability and linearize the greyscale levels.
Abstract
Description
- The subject invention relates generally to thermal ink jet printers, and is directed more particularly to a technique for reducing drive energy in thermal ink jet printheads while maintaining consistently high print quality.
- An ink jet printer forms a printed image by printing a pattern of individual dots at particular locations of an array defined for the printing medium. The locations are conveniently visualized as being small dots in a rectilinear array. The locations are sometimes "dot locations", "dot positions", or "pixels". Thus, the printing operation can be viewed as the filling of a pattern of dot locations with dots of ink.
- Ink jet printers print dots by ejecting very small drops of ink onto the print medium, and typically include a movable carriage that supports one or more printheads each having ink ejecting nozzles. The carriage traverses over the surface of the print medium, and the nozzles are controlled to eject drops of ink at appropriate times pursuant to command of a microcomputer or other controller, wherein the timing of the application of the ink drops is intended to correspond to the pattern of pixels of the image being printed.
- Thermal ink jet printheads commonly comprise an array of precision formed nozzles, each of which is in communication with an associated ink containing chamber that receives ink from a reservoir. Each chamber includes a thermal resistor which is located opposite the nozzle so that ink can collect between the thermal resistor and the nozzle. The thermal resistor is selectively heated by voltage pulses to drive ink drops through the associated nozzle opening in the orifice plate. Pursuant to each pulse, the thermal resistor is rapidly heated, which causes the ink directly adjacent the thermal resistor to vaporize and form a bubble. As the vapor bubble grows, momentum is transferred to the ink to be propelled through the nozzle and onto the print media.
- For gray scale printing, wherein the darkness of each printed dot is varied, it is known to vary the volume of ink in each drop that produces a printed dot. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Patent 4,503,444 for "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A GRAY SCALE WITH A HIGH SPEED THERMAL INK JET PRINTER," incorporated herein by reference, discloses a thermal ink jet printer wherein each drop is formed pursuant to a pulse group applied to a resistor which causes emission of a packet of droplets that merge in flight to form a single drop.
- A consideration with the operation of thermal ink jet printheads with drop forming pulse groups is increased printhead operating temperatures due to multiple firings for each pixel. This consideration becomes more notable with small drop volume thermal ink jet devices which require relatively higher input energy per unit flow of ink, and thus develop higher operating temperatures as a result of the increase in average power.
- High operating temperatures are known to cause degradation in print quality due to induced variability in printhead performance parameters such as drop volume, spray, and trajectory. Moreover, when the operating temperature of a thermal ink jet printhead exceeds a critical temperature, it becomes inoperative. Also, the operating lifetime of a thermal ink jet printhead can be reduced as a result of excessive heat build up.
- A common technique for reducing heat build up is to operate at lower resistor firing frequencies, which delivers lower average power to the printhead. However, reducing the maximum resistor firing frequency also reduces printing speed and throughput.
- It would therefore be an advantage to provide for thermal ink jet printhead operation that avoids performance degrading heat build up while maintaining high operating frequencies.
- The foregoing and other advantages are provided by the invention in a greyscale thermal ink jet printer wherein the energy of the second and subsequent pulses in a drop forming pulse group are reduced to adjust for the lower required energy of nucleating a drive bubble.
- The advantages and features of the disclosed invention will readily be appreciated by persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the drawing wherein:
- FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the thermal ink jet components for implementing the invention.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a portion of a printhead with which the disclosed invention can be implemented.
- FIG. 3 is a pulse timing diagram illustrating the reduction of drive energy in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 4 is a pulse timing diagram illustrating the reduction of drive energy in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 5 is a pulse timing diagram illustrating the reduction of drive energy in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of the circuitry of a simplified printhead which is helpful in understanding the disclosed invention.
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components for driving the printhead circuit of FIG. 6 in accordance with the invention.
- FIG. 8 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the printhead circuit of FIG. 6 in accordance with the invention.
- In the following detailed description and in the several figures of the drawing, like elements are identified with like reference numerals.
- Referring now to FIG. 1, shown therein is a simplified block diagram of a thermal ink jet printer in which the disclosed invention can be implemented. A controller 11 receives print data input and processes the print data to provide print control information to a printhead driver 13. The printhead driver circuitry 13 receives power from a
power supply 15 and applies driving or energizing pulses to ink drop firing resistors of a thermalink jet printhead 15 which emit ink drops pursuant to the driving pulses. - The thermal
ink jet printhead 15 is constructed in accordance with conventional printhead designs, and FIG. 2 shows by way of illustrative example a schematic partial perspective of an implementation of theprinthead 15. The printhead of FIG. 2 includes asubstrate member 12 upon which apolymer barrier layer 14 is disposed and configured in the geometry shown. Thesubstrate 12 will typically be constructed of either glass or silicon or some other suitable insulating or semiconductor material which has been surface-oxidized and upon which a plurality ofink firing resistors 26 are photolithographically defined, for example in a layer of resistive material such as tantalum-aluminum. Theseink firing resistors 26 are electrically connected by conductive trace patterns (not shown) which are used for supplying drive current pulses to these ink firing resistors during a thermal ink jet printing operation. In addition, there is also provided surface passivation and protection insulating layers (not shown) between the overlyingpolymer barrier layer 14 and the underlyingink firing resistors 26 and conductive trace patterns. Examples of thermal ink jet printhead construction are shown in the Hewlett Packard Journal, Volume 39, No. 4, August 1988, incorporated herein by reference, and also in the Hewlett Packard Journal, Volume 36, No. 5, May 1985, also incorporated herein by reference. - The
polymer barrier layer 14 can be formed from a polymeric material using known photolithographic masking and etching processes to definefiring chambers 18 which overlierespective heater resistors 26. The ends of an opening in thefiring chambers 18 are connected to the sides of anink feed channel 28 which extends as shown to receive ink at the slanted or angled lead-inend sections 30 that define an ink entry port of thepolymer barrier layer 14. Thus, thefiring chamber 18 is integrally joined to the rectangularly shapedink feed channel 28 and associated inkflow entry port 30 which are operative to supply ink to thefiring chamber 18 during drop ejection of ink from the thermal ink jet printhead. - An
orifice plate 32 of conventional construction and fabricated typically of gold plated nickel is disposed as shown on the upper surface of thepolymer barrier layer 14, and theorifice plate 32 has a convergently contoured orifice opening 34 therein which is typically aligned with the center of theink firing resistor 26. However, in some cases the orifice opening 34 may be slightly offset with respect to the center of the ink firing resistor in order to control the directionality of the ejected ink drops in a desired manner. - The controller 11 of the thermal ink jet printer of FIG. 1 comprises, for example, a microprocessor architecture in accordance with known controller structures, and provides pulse data representative of the firing pulses for driving the individual ink drop firing resistors of the printhead 17. By way of illustrative example, the controller provides for each ink drop firing resistor pulse data representative of the number of pulses that the resistor is to be fired in each firing cycle, wherein a firing cycle is defined as a time interval during which each ink firing resistor and the printhead driver drives the ink firing resistors in accordance with the resistor pulse data such that the resistors are fired with the appropriate energizing pulses.
- The ink jet printer of FIG. 1 provides for gray scale printing wherein each ink firing resistor is controlled to produce ink drops of varying volume (greater ink volume for darker print). In particular, each dot printing drop produced by the printhead is formed pursuant to a pulse group applied to an ink firing resistor wherein a pulse group includes one or more pulses each respectively causing the emission of corresponding one or more droplets. The pulses in a pulse group are sufficiently close together so that the ink droplets from the pulses within a pulse group merge together in flight to form the single ink drop prior to reaching the print medium. The time interval between pulse groups applied to any given ink firing resistor is sufficiently large to avoid merging of the drops from different pulse groups. The technique of using pulse groups to generate ink drops of varying volumes for gray scale applications is disclosed in the previously cited U.S. Patent 4,503,444.
- In accordance with the invention, each dot printing ink drop is formed pursuant application of a sequence of 1 to MAX pulses of a group pulse pattern that includes MAX pulses and wherein the energy of the second and subsequent pulses is less than the energy of the first pulse in the group pulse pattern. In one embodiment of the invention, the time interval between the leading edges of the pulses in a pulse group pattern remains constant. In another embodiment of the invention, the time interval between the leading edges of adjacent pulses in a pulse group is decreased starting with the second pulse (i.e., the pulse timing is advanced), and the energy of the second and subsequent pulses is constant and less than the energy of the first pulse. In a further embodiment of the invention, the time interval between the leading edges of adjacent pulses in a pulse group is decreased starting with the second pulse (i.e., the pulse timing is advanced), and the energy of the second and subsequent pulses is reduced relative to the energy of the first pulse such that the energy of the second pulse is less than the energy of the first pulse, the energy of the third pulse is less than the energy of the second pulse. The energy of ink firing pulses can be controlled, for example, by width or amplitude.
- Referring now to FIG. 3 schematically illustrated therein is a group pulse pattern in accordance with a pulse width reduction embodiment of the invention wherein the pulse width of the second and successive pulses is constant and reduced relative to the width of the first pulse, and wherein the intervals between all pulses in the pattern are the same. For the particular example the maximum number of pulses MAX being three, a dot printing drop would be formed pursuant to a pulse group comprised of the first pulse, the first and second pulses, or all three pulses, wherein the number of pulses in a particular pulse group would depend upon the desired printed dot density. By way of illustrative example, the first pulse of the group pulse pattern has a width of 3.8 microseconds, while the second and third pulses each has a width of 2.3 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 39% relative to the first pulse. The time interval between the start of adjacent pulses is shown as 25 microseconds.
- It should be appreciated that a pulse group pattern having a greater maximum number of pulses MAX can be utilized to obtain a greater number of print shades, wherein the second and subsequent pulses would be of the same pulse width, for example.
- Referring now to FIG. 4, schematically illustrated therein by way of illustrative example is a pulse group pattern in accordance with a pulse width reduction and timing advance embodiment of the invention wherein the second and subsequent pulses have the same reduced width. For the particular example shown of a pulse group pattern having a maximum number of pulses MAX that is equal to three, a dot printing drop would be formed pursuant to a pulse group comprised of the first pulse, the first and second pulses, or all three pulses, wherein the number of pulses in a particular pulse group would depend upon the desired printed dot density. The first pulse has a width of 3.8 microseconds, and the second and third pulses each has a pulse width of 2.3 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 39% relative to the first pulse. The interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses is 25 microseconds, and the interval between the leading edge of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is 15 microseconds.
- It should be appreciated that a pulse group pattern having a greater maximum pulse count can be utilized to obtain a greater number of print shades, wherein the second and subsequent pulses would be of the same pulse width that is reduced relative to the first pulse and wherein the intervals between the leading edges of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is constant and less than the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses.
- Referring now to FIG. 5, schematically illustrated therein by way of illustrative example is a pulse group pattern in accordance with a pulse width reduction and timing advance embodiment of the invention wherein the width of the second pulse is reduced relative to the width of the first pulse, and the widths of the third and subsequent pulses are reduced relative to the width of the second pulse. For the particular example of a pulse group pattern having a maximum number of pulses MAX that is equal to four, a dot printing drop would be formed pursuant to a pulse group comprised of the first pulse, the first and second pulses, the first through third pulses, or all four pulses, wherein the number of pulses in a particular pulse group would depend upon the desired printed dot density. By way of illustrative example, the first pulse has a width of 3.8 microseconds, and the second pulse has a pulse width of 2.3 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 39% relative to the first pulse. The third and fourth pulses each has a width of 1.9 microseconds, which is a pulse energy reduction of 50% relative to the first pulse. The interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses is 25 microseconds, and the interval between the leading of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is 15 microseconds.
- It should be appreciated that a pulse group pattern having a greater maximum pulse count can be utilized to obtain a greater number of print shades, wherein the third and subsequent pulses would be of the same pulse width that is reduced relative to the first and second pulses and wherein the intervals between the leading edges of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is constant and less than the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses.
- For the timing parameters in the examples of FIGS. 3-5, the interval between the end of one pulse group and the start of the next pulse group should be at least 45 microseconds to avoid in flight merging of the respective drops from the groups. Further, the pulse repetition interval within a group can be in the range of 15 to 45 microseconds.
- A thermal ink jet printer in accordance with the foregoing can be implemented in various ways including, for example, a multiplexed design as illustrated in simplified form in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a simplified schematic circuit of a printhead having eight ink firing resistors R1 through R8 arranged in an array of 4 rows and 2 columns, and are driven by respective power FETs S1 through S8. The power FETs are controlled by address lines A1 through A4 and primitive select lines P1 and P2. In particular, the gates of the FETs in each row are commonly connected to an address line for that row; and resistors in each column are column are connected between the drains of respective FETs and a primitive select line for that column. Thus, when the address line of an ink firing resistor is at a logical high level, the resistor can be energized pursuant to the voltage on its primitive select line. As described more fully herein, the primitive select lines provide pulses for driving the ink firing resistors in accordance with the invention.
- FIG. 7 illustrates in simplified form, by way of illustrative example, a multiplexer 111, a look-up table 113, and an
address driver 115 that would be implemented in the printhead driver 13 of FIG. 1 for driving the printhead of FIG. 4 in a multiplexed manner. Theaddress driver 115 provides the address signals AS1 through AS2 on the address lines Al through A4, wherein each address signal comprises a sequence of pulses that are the same in number as the number of pulses in the group pulse pattern utilized, and timed in accordance with the timing of the group pulse pattern being utilized, whereby the intervals between the leading edges of the pulses of an address signal is the same as the intervals between the leading edges of the pulses in the particular group pulse pattern being utilized. The widths of the pulses of each address signal are at least as wide as the corresponding pulses in the group pulse pattern, and the address signals are staggered relative to each other so that the address signal pulses are non-overlapping, as shown in FIG. 8 for a firing cycle for an implementation using a group pulse pattern as shown in FIG. 4 and described above. As utilized herein, a firing cycle is an interval during which each of the ink firing resistors of the printhead circuit of FIG. 6 is enabled pursuant to the address lines to produce a dot printing drop. Of course, whether an ink firing resistor fires a drop depends on the print data. - The multiplexer 111 receives respective pulse data DR1 through DR8 for each resistor on eight input lines, and provides two primitive select signals PS1 and PS2 on the primitive select lines P1 and P2. For the example of a group pulse pattern having four greyscale levels including white (i.e., a group pulse pattern having three pulses), the data for each resistor two bits for each firing cycle. The resistor data for each firing cycle is translated into pulse waveforms via the look-up table and amplified to provide the primitive select signals PS1 and PS2 which includes pulses of appropriate power for energizing the ink firing resistors that receive the pulses. In particular, each primitive select signal contains the pulses for all of the resistors in the column associated with the particular primitive select signal, and the pulses for each resistor are timed to coincide with the address signal pulses for that resistor. Since the address signals AS1 through AS4 are staggered, the primitive select pulses for the resistors in each column will be interleaved such that the resistors in each column will be energized in an interleaved manner wherein only one resistor in each column is being fired at any point in time during a firing cycle. In other words, resistors in a column cannot be concurrently energized. However, different resistors in different columns can be energized at the same time since each address signal controls a resistor in each column. FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the pulses provided by the primitive select signals during a firing cycle for the particular example of DR1=1, DR7=1, DR8=3, and the each of the remaining resistor data values being 0. For such example, as indicated on FIG. 8, PS1 contains the single pulses for the resistors R1 and R7, while PS2 contains the three pulses for the resistor R8.
- The foregoing multiplexed scheme generally provides address signals that define for each row of resistors the times when such resistors can be energized, and the power primitive select signals provide the appropriate power pulses in accordance with the number of pulses of the group pulse pattern specified for each of the resistors. The address signals are staggered such that in each column only one resistor is energized at any given time, and the pulses in each of the primitive select signals are interleaved so that the pulses for each resistor in each column are coincident with the address pulses for such resistor.
- It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the selection of timing parameters including pulse energy reduction and timing advance will depend on the characteristics of the particular thermal ink jet printer. For example, the amount of pulse energy reduction will vary depending upon pulse timing, with the potential for pulse energy reduction increasing as the interval between pulses in a group pattern decreases, and pulse timing advance is chosen to optimize drop stability and linearize the greyscale levels.
- Pursuant to the invention, bulk temperature is reduced and local temperatures of the ink firing resistors are also, which advantageously allows for higher operating frequencies and produces improved print quality.
- Although the foregoing has been a description and illustration of specific embodiments of the invention, various modifications and changes thereto can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims (11)
- A thermal ink jet printer system comprising:
a thermal ink jet printhead (17) having a plurality of ink drop firing resistors (26, R1-R8) responsive to ink droplet firing pulses;
control means (11, 13) for applying to a selected one of said ink firing resistors at least a first in sequence pulse of a pulse group pattern having a sequence of pulses that cause firing of respective ink droplets when applied to the selected ink firing resistor, said pulses being sufficiently closely spaced in time so that the droplets fired pursuant thereto combine in flight to form a single drop having a volume that depends on the number of pulses of the pulse group that are applied, said control means reducing the drive energy for the second and subsequent pulses in the pulse group. - The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 1 wherein said control means reduces the energy of the second and any subsequent pulses relative to the energy of the first pulse.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 2 wherein said second and subsequent pulses have a constant energy.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 2 wherein said control means reduces the energy of the third and any subsequent pulse relative to the energy of the second pulse, said third and any subsequent pulse having a constant energy.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 4 wherein the interval between the leading edges of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is decreased relative to the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 1 wherein said control means reduces the pulse width of the second and any subsequent pulses relative to the pulse width of the first pulse.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 6 wherein said second and subsequent pulses have a constant pulse width.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 7 wherein the pulse width of said second and subsequent pulses is about 60% of the width of the first pulse.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 6 wherein said control means reduces the pulse width of the third and any subsequent pulse relative to the width of the second pulse, said third and any subsequent pulse having a constant pulse width.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 9 wherein the interval between the leading edges of adjacent pulses starting with the second pulse is decreased relative to the interval between the leading edges of the first and second pulses.
- The thermal ink jet printer of Claim 10 wherein said second pulse has a pulse width of about 60% of the width of the first pulse, and wherein said third and any subsequent pulse have a pulse width of about 50% of the width of the first pulse.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US1430193A | 1993-02-05 | 1993-02-05 | |
US14301 | 1993-02-05 |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0609997A2 true EP0609997A2 (en) | 1994-08-10 |
EP0609997A3 EP0609997A3 (en) | 1995-04-12 |
EP0609997B1 EP0609997B1 (en) | 1998-03-18 |
Family
ID=21764661
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP94300396A Expired - Lifetime EP0609997B1 (en) | 1993-02-05 | 1994-01-19 | A system for reducing drive energy in a high speed thermal ink jet printer |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US5600349A (en) |
EP (1) | EP0609997B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP3738041B2 (en) |
DE (1) | DE69409020T2 (en) |
Cited By (10)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0709196A3 (en) * | 1994-10-27 | 1996-09-04 | Canon Kk | Print head, and print method and apparatus using the same |
WO1998008687A1 (en) * | 1996-08-27 | 1998-03-05 | Topaz Technologies, Inc. | Inkjet print head for producing variable volume droplets of ink |
EP0867284A3 (en) * | 1997-03-26 | 1999-08-25 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging apparatus and method adapted to control ink droplet volume and void formation |
US6106092A (en) * | 1998-07-02 | 2000-08-22 | Kabushiki Kaisha Tec | Driving method of an ink-jet head |
US6109732A (en) * | 1997-01-14 | 2000-08-29 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging apparatus and method adapted to control ink droplet volume and void formation |
EP1072419A2 (en) * | 1999-07-27 | 2001-01-31 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid discharge method, liquid discharge head and liquid discharge apparatus |
US6193343B1 (en) | 1998-07-02 | 2001-02-27 | Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha | Driving method of an ink-jet head |
EP0867283B1 (en) * | 1997-03-26 | 2004-08-11 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging method for providing images of uniform print density |
CN109634168A (en) * | 2018-12-05 | 2019-04-16 | 智恒科技股份有限公司 | A kind of processing method of sensor pulse signal |
WO2020124302A1 (en) * | 2018-12-17 | 2020-06-25 | 智恒科技股份有限公司 | Sensor pulse signal processing method |
Families Citing this family (23)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP3259748B2 (en) * | 1994-03-31 | 2002-02-25 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Ink jet recording device |
JP3273716B2 (en) * | 1995-08-29 | 2002-04-15 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Ink ejecting apparatus and driving method thereof |
US5812158A (en) * | 1996-01-18 | 1998-09-22 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Coated nozzle plate for ink jet printing |
GB9605547D0 (en) | 1996-03-15 | 1996-05-15 | Xaar Ltd | Operation of droplet deposition apparatus |
US7036914B1 (en) * | 1999-07-30 | 2006-05-02 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Fluid ejection device with fire cells |
US6439697B1 (en) | 1999-07-30 | 2002-08-27 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Dynamic memory based firing cell of thermal ink jet printhead |
US6139131A (en) * | 1999-08-30 | 2000-10-31 | Hewlett-Packard Company | High drop generator density printhead |
US6439678B1 (en) | 1999-11-23 | 2002-08-27 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method and apparatus for non-saturated switching for firing energy control in an inkjet printer |
TW514596B (en) | 2000-02-28 | 2002-12-21 | Hewlett Packard Co | Glass-fiber thermal inkjet print head |
US6505903B2 (en) * | 2000-07-27 | 2003-01-14 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Method of discharging plural liquid droplets from single discharge port |
US6467864B1 (en) | 2000-08-08 | 2002-10-22 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Determining minimum energy pulse characteristics in an ink jet print head |
US6523923B2 (en) * | 2000-10-16 | 2003-02-25 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Wavefrom prevents ink droplets from coalescing |
US6443564B1 (en) * | 2000-11-13 | 2002-09-03 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Asymmetric fluidic techniques for ink-jet printheads |
US6663208B2 (en) * | 2000-11-22 | 2003-12-16 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Controller for inkjet apparatus |
US20030016275A1 (en) * | 2001-07-20 | 2003-01-23 | Eastman Kodak Company | Continuous ink jet printhead with improved drop formation and apparatus using same |
US6582040B2 (en) * | 2001-09-28 | 2003-06-24 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method of ejecting fluid from an ejection device |
JP2004025851A (en) * | 2002-05-02 | 2004-01-29 | Canon Inc | Inkjet recording apparatus and recording method |
GB0227778D0 (en) * | 2002-11-28 | 2003-01-08 | Cambridge Display Tech Ltd | Droplet-deposition related methods and apparatus |
TW200508044A (en) | 2003-08-26 | 2005-03-01 | Ind Tech Res Inst | Compound inkjet print head printer |
US7111932B2 (en) * | 2003-09-18 | 2006-09-26 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company | Managing contaminants in a fluid-delivery device |
US7093930B2 (en) * | 2003-09-18 | 2006-08-22 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Managing bubbles in a fluid-delivery device |
US20050062814A1 (en) * | 2003-09-18 | 2005-03-24 | Ozgur Yildirim | Managing bubbles in a fluid-ejection device |
JP6119129B2 (en) * | 2011-08-12 | 2017-04-26 | 株式会社リコー | Inkjet recording method and inkjet recording apparatus |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5811169A (en) * | 1981-07-10 | 1983-01-21 | Canon Inc | Liquid-injection recording method |
EP0115180A2 (en) * | 1982-12-27 | 1984-08-08 | Dataproducts Corporation | Operating an ink jet |
EP0124190A2 (en) * | 1983-04-29 | 1984-11-07 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method of generating an N-tone gray scale with a thermal ink jet printer, and apparatus therefor |
EP0147575A2 (en) * | 1983-12-16 | 1985-07-10 | International Business Machines Corporation | Drop-on-demand ink jet printers |
Family Cites Families (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5285215A (en) * | 1982-12-27 | 1994-02-08 | Exxon Research And Engineering Company | Ink jet apparatus and method of operation |
-
1994
- 1994-01-19 EP EP94300396A patent/EP0609997B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1994-01-19 DE DE69409020T patent/DE69409020T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1994-02-04 JP JP03295594A patent/JP3738041B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
1995
- 1995-02-24 US US08/394,927 patent/US5600349A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5811169A (en) * | 1981-07-10 | 1983-01-21 | Canon Inc | Liquid-injection recording method |
EP0115180A2 (en) * | 1982-12-27 | 1984-08-08 | Dataproducts Corporation | Operating an ink jet |
EP0124190A2 (en) * | 1983-04-29 | 1984-11-07 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method of generating an N-tone gray scale with a thermal ink jet printer, and apparatus therefor |
EP0147575A2 (en) * | 1983-12-16 | 1985-07-10 | International Business Machines Corporation | Drop-on-demand ink jet printers |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 7, no. 85 (M-206) (1230) 9 April 1983 & JP-A-58 011 169 (CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA) 21 January 1983 * |
Cited By (14)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5867200A (en) * | 1994-10-27 | 1999-02-02 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Print head, and print pre-heat method and apparatus using the same |
EP0709196A3 (en) * | 1994-10-27 | 1996-09-04 | Canon Kk | Print head, and print method and apparatus using the same |
WO1998008687A1 (en) * | 1996-08-27 | 1998-03-05 | Topaz Technologies, Inc. | Inkjet print head for producing variable volume droplets of ink |
US6109732A (en) * | 1997-01-14 | 2000-08-29 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging apparatus and method adapted to control ink droplet volume and void formation |
EP0867283B1 (en) * | 1997-03-26 | 2004-08-11 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging method for providing images of uniform print density |
EP0867284A3 (en) * | 1997-03-26 | 1999-08-25 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging apparatus and method adapted to control ink droplet volume and void formation |
US6106092A (en) * | 1998-07-02 | 2000-08-22 | Kabushiki Kaisha Tec | Driving method of an ink-jet head |
US6193343B1 (en) | 1998-07-02 | 2001-02-27 | Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha | Driving method of an ink-jet head |
EP1072419A2 (en) * | 1999-07-27 | 2001-01-31 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid discharge method, liquid discharge head and liquid discharge apparatus |
US6409296B1 (en) | 1999-07-27 | 2002-06-25 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid discharge method, liquid discharge head and liquid discharge apparatus |
EP1072419A3 (en) * | 1999-07-27 | 2001-10-10 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid discharge method, liquid discharge head and liquid discharge apparatus |
CN109634168A (en) * | 2018-12-05 | 2019-04-16 | 智恒科技股份有限公司 | A kind of processing method of sensor pulse signal |
CN109634168B (en) * | 2018-12-05 | 2020-02-07 | 智恒科技股份有限公司 | Method for processing sensor pulse signal |
WO2020124302A1 (en) * | 2018-12-17 | 2020-06-25 | 智恒科技股份有限公司 | Sensor pulse signal processing method |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP0609997A3 (en) | 1995-04-12 |
DE69409020D1 (en) | 1998-04-23 |
JPH06238899A (en) | 1994-08-30 |
EP0609997B1 (en) | 1998-03-18 |
JP3738041B2 (en) | 2006-01-25 |
DE69409020T2 (en) | 1998-07-02 |
US5600349A (en) | 1997-02-04 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
EP0609997B1 (en) | A system for reducing drive energy in a high speed thermal ink jet printer | |
US4686539A (en) | Multipulsing method for operating an ink jet apparatus for printing at high transport speeds | |
EP0933218B1 (en) | Hybrid multi-drop/multi-pass printing system | |
EP0913257B1 (en) | Apparatus for generating high frequency ink ejection and ink chamber refill | |
US6932453B2 (en) | Inkjet printhead assembly having very high drop rate generation | |
US5956056A (en) | Ink jet recording apparatus and method of recording with separated image data | |
US6079811A (en) | Ink jet printhead having a unitary actuator with a plurality of active sections | |
US5642142A (en) | Variable halftone operation inkjet printheads | |
EP0913256A2 (en) | Multi-drop merge on media printing system | |
US6217147B1 (en) | Printer having media advance coordinated with primitive size | |
JP2001058407A (en) | Ink-jet recording apparatus and ink-jet recording head | |
KR101034322B1 (en) | Liquid ejecting method and liquid ejecting apparatus | |
US6679586B2 (en) | Inkjet recording device capable of performing ink refresh operation without stopping printing operation | |
JPH07125195A (en) | Drive method for ink jet head | |
EP0649746A1 (en) | Variable halftone operation inkjet printheads | |
EP0897804A2 (en) | Liquid ink printhead | |
JP3335724B2 (en) | Liquid jet recording method | |
JP2840480B2 (en) | INK JET RECORDING APPARATUS AND RECORDING METHOD THEREOF | |
JP4780882B2 (en) | Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method | |
JP3067839B2 (en) | Ink jet recording device | |
JP3165706B2 (en) | INK JET RECORDING METHOD AND INK JET RECORDING APPARATUS USING THE METHOD | |
JP3046061B2 (en) | Ink jet recording head and recording apparatus using the recording head | |
JPH03234630A (en) | Ink-jet recording device | |
JP2006175800A (en) | Inkjet recording method | |
JP2004058661A (en) | Inkjet head and inkjet recorder |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): DE FR GB IT |
|
PUAL | Search report despatched |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009013 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A3 Designated state(s): DE FR GB IT |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 19950619 |
|
17Q | First examination report despatched |
Effective date: 19960903 |
|
GRAG | Despatch of communication of intention to grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA |
|
GRAG | Despatch of communication of intention to grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA |
|
GRAH | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA |
|
GRAH | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA |
|
GRAA | (expected) grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: B1 Designated state(s): DE FR GB IT |
|
ITF | It: translation for a ep patent filed |
Owner name: SOCIETA' ITALIANA BREVETTI S.P.A. |
|
REF | Corresponds to: |
Ref document number: 69409020 Country of ref document: DE Date of ref document: 19980423 |
|
ET | Fr: translation filed | ||
PLBE | No opposition filed within time limit |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261 |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT |
|
26N | No opposition filed | ||
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: GB Ref legal event code: 732E |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: FR Ref legal event code: TP |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: GB Ref legal event code: IF02 |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: GB Payment date: 20050112 Year of fee payment: 12 |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FR Payment date: 20050117 Year of fee payment: 12 |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: DE Payment date: 20050228 Year of fee payment: 12 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: GB Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20060119 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FR Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20060131 |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: IT Payment date: 20060131 Year of fee payment: 13 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: DE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20060801 |
|
GBPC | Gb: european patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20060119 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: FR Ref legal event code: ST Effective date: 20060929 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: IT Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20070119 |